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| Comfort & Counsel |
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| The Great Bible Story #121 |
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Saul went to the high priest and got permission to catch the disciples of Jesus and to put them in jail. With this purpose he was travelling to Damascus on horseback when suddenly there was a bright light that blinded him. He fell down from the horse and heard a voice asking him why he was persecuting Him. Saul didn't know who was talking and asked who it was. The reply was that it was Jesus whom he was persecuting (even though he was persecuting His disciples). Then Jesus told him to proceed to Damascus where he would be told what to do. As Saul got up from the ground he was blind, and some of the others who were with him had to hold him by the hand and lead him to Damascus. After they reached, Saul was without sight for three days, and he was thinking about how mistaken he had been about Jesus earlier and how he had been persecuting the people of God. He didn't eat or drink anything those days.
In Damascus there was a disciple called Ananias, to whom Jesus appeared in a vision and told him about Saul. Jesus wanted him to go to the place where Saul was staying and pray for him. Saul was in prayer, waiting for Ananias to come to him. But Ananias was shocked at this instruction! He exclaimed that this Saul was actually coming to Damascus to catch the disciples of Jesus! Jesus said that He had chosen this Saul to be a witness for Him in many parts of the world. Saul was also going to face many difficulties in this mission. Ananias went to Saul and told him that the Jesus whom he had met on the way to Damascus had sent him to pray for him that he might get his sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. After Ananias prayed and Saul got back his sight, he also baptised Saul in water. Ananias then laid his hands on Saul's head and prayed for him, and he was baptised in the Holy Spirit. Saul spent several days talking to the disciples at Damascus. After that he started going to the synagogue and declaring that Jesus was the Son of God. He would have used his scholarly knowledge of the prophecies to support this truth to the Jewish listeners. At first there was surprise that the man who had been creating havoc for the disciples of Jesus earlier in Jerusalem was now preaching about Jesus! But soon this turned into anger from the Jews who decided to put him to death. They began to plot plans to catch him. But this became known to the disciples who let him escape from the city by lowering him down the city wall in a basket. |
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